Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Template:Infobox Film

Summit Entertainment, the studio behind the film adaptations of novels in the Twilight series, announced in November 2008 that it had obtained the rights to the rest of Stephenie Meyer's series, including Breaking Dawn. Breaking Dawn has been confirmed to be split in two parts. The release date of the first half of Breaking Dawn is set on November 18, 2011‎ while the second half is set on November 16, 2012.

Plot

On November 4, 2010, Summit Entertainment released the official synopsis of the film in its entirety:

In the highly anticipated next chapter of the block buster The Twilight Saga, the new found married bliss of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) is cut short when a series of betrayals and misfortunes threatens to destroy their world.

After their wedding, Bella and Edward travel to Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, where they finally give in to their passions. Bella soon discovers she is pregnant, and during a nearly fatal childbirth, Edward finally fulfills her wish to become immortal.

But the arrival of their remarkable daughter, Renesmee, sets in motion a perilous chain of events that pits the Cullens and their allies against the Volturi, the fearsome council of vampire leaders, setting the stage for an all-out battle.

The suspenseful and deeply romantic Breaking Dawn continues the epic tale of supernatural fantasy and passionate love that has made The Twilight Saga a world wide phenomenon.

Production

Development

Meyer stated in her Breaking Dawn FAQ that if a film were to be created, she thought it would have to be made into two movies because "it's hard to imagine it fitting into ninety minutes. The book is just so long! I can't imagine how to distill it—if I could, the book would be shorter." According to Variety, the studio had decided to split the 756-page book into two films, along the same lines as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Subsequently, Summit had to negotiate new deals with the main cast, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, since they were only under contract for four films.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson filming "Breaking Dawn".

Meyer also believed it may be impossible to make Breaking Dawn into a film, due to Renesmee, writing that an actress could not play her because she is a baby but has complete awareness, and that "the one thing that I've never seen is a CGI human being which truly looks real"; however, she went on to state that "they develop amazing new technologies everyday, and we've got a little time left." It is still however unknown whether Renesmee will be CGI, or if one/many actresses will portray her. There are also concerns about making a PG-13 movie adaptation, given the book's complex and graphic storylines, including the birth of a half-vampire, half-human baby. When talking about Taylor Lautner's next film for Summit Entertainment, producer Wyck Godfrey stated "Lautner will reprise his role of Jacob in Breaking Dawn beginning in late 2010, and it is likely that the final book will be divided into two films that will be shot back-to-back."

It was announced on April 28, 2010 that Bill Condon will direct the film. On July 5, on Twitter, Melissa Rosenberg, the official screenwriter for Twilight, announced that Breaking Dawn will remain a PG-13 movie. She added that, quote: "I think we can get awfully [hot] with PG-13. I'm not worried about the rating. I know a lot of fans are like, 'We have to go R to do it justice', but i don't think so. I think it's going to be pretty hot. Way hot!" Rosenberg says. Rosenberg was referring to the worry of some fans about the movie being rated R because of love scenes between Edward and Bella. She added that a lot can be done in a PG-13 movie, despite what skeptics may think or say.

According to Summit's Twitter and Facebook, the first film will be released on November 18, 2011 and the second on November 16, 2012.

Bella clutching feathers from the destroyed pillow

Producer Wyck Godfrey announced that the first part will cover the wedding, the honeymoon and the birth. The film ends just before Bella "embarks on her supernatural transformation". Godfrey said about Jacob's book, "The story will break from [Bella] and follow Jacob throughout the course of the movie as he struggles with his own dilemma. There is a sense that as Bella and the Cullens deal with her pregnancy, the world is still turning outside with Jacob."

On January 6, 2011 it was announced that Carter Burwell, composer of the first film in the series, will be returning to score both parts of the final installment. He later posted on his Twitter account he will be writing "Renesmee's Lullaby."

Filming

In July 2010, Summit announced that the movie will be shot in Vancouver, Canada, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Both parts will be shot simultaneously as one project. Filming officially began on November 1, 2010 in Brazil. The honeymoon scenes are shot in Paraty for Isle Esme, an island only accessible by helicopter and boat.

In February, the cast re-located to Vancouver to shoot the wedding scene and the rest of the movie. Some scenes from in the book will be changed in the movie adaptation. For example, in the book Irina (played by Maggie Grace) is too upset at the Cullens for not allowing her to destroy the wolves, who killed Laurent, to attend Bella and Edward's wedding. However, the picture below clearly shows Irina at the wedding in the film.

It took about four to five weeks to shoot the ending sequence of Part 2 which would consume about twenty-seven minutes of the film. The sequence was shot using a green screen and fake snow with 75 actors on set.

File:250px-Esme-Irina-Kate-Tanya-560x421.jpg

Irina, Kate, and Tanya talking with Esme at Bella and Edward's wedding.

Cast

Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner were under contract to make four films. However, since Breaking Dawn was announced to be split into two movies, they renewed the movie contracts and other paperwork. On June 2010, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaption of the fourth book would start production in late 2010 and was made clear that all major actors, including the three lead roles (Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner), the Cullen family (Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, and Jackson Rathbone), and Charlie Swan (Billy Burke), would be returning for both parts.

Mackenzie Foy will play Bella and Edward's half-human half-vampire daughter, Renesmee Cullen, who was announced on October 6, 2010 by Stephenie Meyer. Eliza Faria and Rachel St. Gelais will act as Renesmee's body doubles, with Mackenzie's head placed on their bodies.

So far, over 60 actors have agreed to join the cast. However, the complete list of cast members is yet to be determined.

The following actors have been added to the cast, but their characters are yet to be announced: , Janelle Froehlich, Masami Kosaka, Sebastiao Lemos, Amadou Ly, Wendell Pierce (only confirmed to play a human character) and Carolina Virguez.

The Cullens and Swans

Actor	Role
Kristen Stewart	Bella Cullen
Robert Pattinson	Edward Cullen
Peter Facinelli	Carlisle Cullen
Elizabeth Reaser	Esme Cullen
Ashley Greene	Alice Cullen
Kellan Lutz	Emmett Cullen
Nikki Reed	Rosalie Hale
Jackson Rathbone	Jasper Hale
Billy Burke	Charlie Swan
Sarah Clarke	Renée Dwyer
Ty Olsson	Phil Dwyer
Mackenzie Foy	Renesmee Cullen

The Quileute Tribe

Actor	Role
Taylor Lautner	Jacob Black
Gil Birmingham	Billy Black
Chaske Spencer	Sam Uley
Bronson Pelletier	Jared Cameron
Boo Boo Stewart	Seth Clearwater
Kiowa Gordon	Embry Call
Alex Meraz	Paul Lahote
Tyson Houseman	Quil Ateara V
Julia Jones	Leah Clearwater
Tinsel Korey	Emily Young
Alex Rice	Sue Clearwater

Volturi

Actor	Role
Michael Sheen	Aro
Jamie Campbell Bower	Caius
Dakota Fanning	Jane
Christopher Heyerdahl	Marcus
Cameron Bright	Alec
Daniel Cudmore	Felix
Charlie Bewley	Demetri
Lateef Crowder Dos Santos	Santiago
Olga Fonda	Secretary

Denali Coven

Actor	Role
MyAnna Buring	Tanya
Casey LaBow	Kate
Christian Camargo	Eleazar
Mia Maestro	Carmen
Maggie Grace	Irina
Lee Pace	Garrett
Andrea Powell	Sasha

Egyptian Coven

Actor	Role
Rami Malek	Benjamin
Omar Metwally	Amun
Andrea Gabriel	Kebi
Angela Sarafyan	Tia

Irish Coven

Actor	Role
Marlane Barnes	Maggie
Lisa Howard	Siobhan
Patrick Brennan	Liam

Amazon Coven

Actor	Role
Judi Shekoni	Zafrina
Tracey Heggins	Senna

Romanian Coven

Actor	Role
Noel Fisher	Vladimir
Guri Weinberg	Stefan

Nomads

Actor	Role
Toni Trucks	Mary
Bill Tangradi	Randall
Erik Odom	Peter
Valorie Curry	Charlotte
Joe Anderson	Alistair
J.D. Pardo	Nahuel

Humans

Actor	Role
Michael Welch	Mike Newton
Christian Serratos	Angela Weber
Justin Chon	Eric Yorkie
Anna Kendrick	Jessica Stanley
Angelo Renai	Minister

Trivia

• This is the only two-part movie in the series.
• All the films have all been in a certain tint. Twilight: Blue, New Moon: Gold, Eclipse: Gray, Breaking Dawn: will be in a red tint.

See also

• Screenshots
• Set pictures
• Trailer

References

Template:Twilight Saga